preface
In this life, Deng Xiaoping had a special love for sports, in addition to paying attention to sports events every day, he also paid attention to fitness exercise.
Especially in his later years, with more time of his own, Deng Xiaoping often sat in front of the TV to watch various sports competitions, and he could even remember the names and origins of dozens of athletes.
Figure丨 Deng Xiaoping
My lifelong favorite football
Deng Xiaoping was famous for his love of football. When I went to France to study in the early years, it was just in time for the eighth Olympic Games to be held in Paris.
At that time, Deng Xiaoping was still a poor student who worked part-time and half-studied, and his free time every day was filled with all kinds of odd jobs, and even so, Deng Xiaoping's life was still stretched.
At that time, the working environment in France was extremely poor, working more than ten hours a day, but he could only get a meager salary, buy a few breads, and the salary would be wiped out.
Deng Xiaoping's only relaxed moment was when he was watching the game at the football stadium, and when he encountered the Four-year Olympic Games, Deng Xiaoping did not want to miss it.
Unfortunately, Deng Xiaoping could not afford the high tickets, and he had to look at the current situation in the newspaper media.
Pictured: Uruguay's main squad in 1924
That year, the unknown Uruguay showed great courage, first 7:0 against Yugoslavia and then 3:0 against the United States.
These two victories made Uruguay a remarkable dark horse, and the upcoming third race was more and more popular and tickets soared.
Deng Xiaoping endured for a long time, and finally made up his mind to watch the match, ran to the ticket office and asked, the ticket for this game has risen to 5 francs.
Deng Xiaoping was a little disappointed, he couldn't come up with so much money, and suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind, "Send your clothes to the pawnshop for some money, won't you be able to watch the game?" ”
Thinking of this, Deng Xiaoping ran back to his residence and took a leather coat that was still worth a lot to the pawnshop, in exchange for tickets for the game.
The ticket of 5 francs was exchanged for a very low position, and Deng Xiaoping could not even see who the player was, but he was still very cheerful, and even after many years, he still clearly remembered that the champion of that game was Uruguay.
Pictured 丨 Deng Xiaoping in France
In 1927, deng xiaoping returned to China, when the first Kuomintang-Communist cooperation broke down, and he followed the party organization to Shanghai.
At that time, Shanghai was the center of the political whirlpool, full of arresting Kuomintang troops, pervaded by the tension of white terror, and for safety reasons, people mostly reduced their outings, and Deng Xiaoping was no exception.
There was only one thing he was going to go out no matter what, and that was to watch the game. Several times, Deng Xiaoping disguised himself and risked his life just to watch the game.
After the founding of New China, the situation stabilized a lot, and Deng Xiaoping could watch the ball without scruples. Once, he wanted to go to the scene to watch the game, but he was hospitalized with an accidental fracture, so Deng Xiaoping lay in his hospital bed and watched the broadcast of the whole game.
At that time, He Long, who was then in charge of the State Sports Commission, came to see him, and Deng Xiaoping jokingly asked him, "When can I watch a few more football games?" ”
Later, when Deng Xiaoping served as secretary of the Southwest Bureau, he learned that the football team formed by new China was about to go to Chongqing to participate in the competition, and he had to pestered He Long, commander of the Southwest Military Region, to comfort the athletes.
During the game, Deng Xiaoping, who was full of opportunities, also took the time to watch all the games.
Picture 丨 "The World is Under Their Feet" documentary
In 1974, When Deng Xiaoping watched the 10th World Cup documentary "The World is At Their Feet," Chen Jialiang, who was in charge of football, was sitting next to him.
After watching the 70-80-minute documentary, Deng Xiaoping was a little unsatisfied, and asked Chen Jialiang what else to watch, and Chen Jialiang took out the video of the World Cup final, this time, Deng Xiaoping watched it for more than three hours.
When watching, Deng Xiaoping did not speak much, just watched seriously, he read it all at once, and he was not willing to pause for a break in the middle.
In 1977, the Beijing Workers' Stadium hosted the International Football Friendship Invitational Tournament, which invited 12 teams from three continents in Asia, Africa and Latin America to participate.
When Deng Xiaoping knew, he said that he had to watch everything, and he sat quietly and quietly in the last row, concentrating on everything on the field.
At this time, someone found Deng Xiaoping in the audience, and after a while, the news of "Deng Xiaoping coming to the scene" was spread, and the fans broke out into enthusiastic cheers, and Deng Xiaoping could only go on stage to speak a few words.
Picture 丨 International Football Friendship Invitational Tournament
Later, in order not to affect the normal progress of the game, Deng Xiaoping could only sit at home and watch the broadcast, and his family quipped that "a group of people chased a leather ball and could not play in half a day. ”
Deng Xiaoping explained without annoyance, "Whether the ball game is good or not has nothing to do with scoring goals, football games pay attention to technology, tactics and other aspects, not just goals." ”
Deng Xiaoping invited Maradona
Even if he watched the broadcast at home, Deng Xiaoping was no less serious than going to the scene. Sports was one of the newspapers that Mr. Deng read every day, but when there was a game, Mr. Deng deliberately avoided it because the newspaper had the results of the previous day's game.
Deng Xiaoping did not want to be "spoiled", so he would also ask the staff to forbid him to tell him about the results of the previous day's game, so that when he watched the video, he could look forward to the results with relish as he did on the spot.
Deng Xiaoping's son Deng Pufang once said, "Football games are full of suspense and uncertainties, this is my father's favorite, weak teams may win, strong teams may lose, this is the most interesting part of football!" ”
Picture 丨 Maradona
In the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Deng Xiaoping watched the broadcast at home, during which he told the staff, "I like to watch football the most in my life, watched for decades, when I saw the mainland football team, there was a sullen breath that could not come out, and then after watching the mainland women's volleyball team, I felt that our Chinese nation was sullen ..."
This World Cup, in addition to making Deng Xiaoping feel "suffocated", also made him germinate the idea of inviting Maradona to play a friendly match in China.
This year, Maradona's career and personal prestige reached its peak. From obscure little players to Serie A champions, Maradona's experience is too inspiring, and countries rush to invite him, which has also caused his value to skyrocket.
In 1987, when Romano Prodi, chairman of the Italian Industrial Renaissance Company, negotiated the construction of a power plant in China, the chairman of CITIC Group relayed Deng Xiaoping's ideas to Prodi.
He said Mr. Deng admired Maradona and was very much looking forward to Maradona coming to China to play a friendly match that would be held at the Beijing Stadium if he so wished, and that 600 million people would have watched the match on television.
When Prodi returned to Italy, he relayed the matter to Maradona, who did not care, "There is no clause in my contract that I want to play outside of Italy. ”
Pictured by Romano Prodi
Prodi is a Chinese generalist, and has also cooperated with China a lot, he is optimistic about China's prospects, so he said to Maradona, "Playing this game will be a good opportunity to gain fame and fortune and gain more fans." ”
Maradona had never been to China and did not know much about China, so he was not persuaded by Prodi, "I will not go without three hundred million", Maradona made such a request.
"Three hundred million" is an astronomical number for China, which has just started a little, so this matter can only be abandoned.
Although he could not invite his favorite stars, Deng Xiaoping's love for football was still enthusiastic, and through years of experience watching football, Deng Xiaoping discovered various shortcomings in the national football system, such as refereeing.
Deng Xiaoping said, "Our referees have a big problem, afraid of athletes, whistle blowing is not good, this is not conducive to the progress of Chinese football, so we must first educate our referees." ”
He also said, "In foreign countries, athletes are very afraid of referees, yellow cards are warnings, red cards are directly punished, but we are just the opposite." The referee blows well, can improve the level of the player, the referee blows badly, it will reduce the level of the player, the athlete does not respect the referee, will also reduce their own level. ”
Therefore, Deng Xiaoping proposed that the issue of refereeing must be resolved as soon as possible, and if there is no good referee training base in China, it will be sent abroad to study.
Figure丨 National football team out of the line
At the same time, Deng Xiaoping also proposed that we should conscientiously study foreign leagues and organize more international invitational tournaments, and under his impetus, in 1991, the Chinese Football Association prepared to build an elite team.
They stood out from all over the country, after rigorous examination and selection, and finally were sent to Brazil to study, all of which were sponsored and supported by the Jianlibao company of that year.
In 2002, the national football team defeated Oman 1:0 and reached the final round of the World Cup and became the last glory in the hearts of hundreds of millions of Chinese fans.
Chinese football is developing, China's national strength is improving, and the world has a new understanding of China, including Maradona.
Picture 丨 Maradona in Chengdu
In 1996, some media said that Maradona would lead the Boca Youth Team to visit China because a Chinese company had reached a cooperation agreement with Boca's agent.
The Chinese Football Association, which learned of the news, immediately sent someone to inquire about the authenticity of the news, and soon learned from the Argentine Football Association that the Boca Youth Team will visit China in the near future, for a period of two weeks, and Maradona will go with the team.
At this time, it is the end of Maradona's career, and his personal prestige has been different, but the king of the ball is still the king of the ball, and as soon as the news comes out, the domestic fans are boiling.
On July 21, Maradona came to China with the team, which was his first time on Chinese soil, and he immediately felt the enthusiasm of thousands of fans.
On the 25th, the 68,000 Beijing Workers Stadium was full, Maradona led the team to play two friendly matches with the Guoan team and the Quanxing team, and the 38-year-old Manadona was not old, and the Chinese fans finally saw the style of the king of the ball at the scene.
On this day, Deng Xiaoping, who was 92 years old, could only watch the broadcast at home due to physical reasons. Although he was unable to go to the scene, Deng Xiaoping's love for football did not fade.
Photo: Maradona (second from right) at the Workers' Stadium in Beijing
Deng Xiaoping's sports affair
In addition to football, Deng Xiaoping paid attention to many sporting events. In 1992, a table tennis grand prix was held in Chengdu, in which Liu Guoliang, a young player from Henan from the Bayi team, played well, and at the age of 16, he defeated world famous players such as Waldner and Kim Taek-so in a row.
This game, Deng Xiaoping, who loves sports, naturally will not miss it, and after seeing Liu Guoliang's good performance, Deng Xiaoping could not help but blurt out, "This boy is really a good seedling!" ”
As Deng Xiaoping said, Liu Guoliang really grew into the top pillar of table tennis in China and even in the world, and after retiring, he became the head coach of the Chinese table tennis team and is now the executive vice chairman of the International Table Tennis Federation.
Figure 丨 Liu Guoliang
Deng Xiaoping was very engaged when he watched the game, and once it was Deng Yaping's game, the tiebreaker, the score was drawn again and again, and all the spectators in front of the TV set waited with bated breath, even Deng Xiaoping.
There was also a staff member who accompanied Deng Xiaoping to watch the game, and when the score was drawn again, she was a little afraid to look at it, so she turned her head to look at Deng Xiaoping.
Only to see Deng Xiaoping's face full of nervousness, staring motionlessly at the big screen, the atmosphere did not dare to come out. Finally, Deng Yaping won two goals in a row and won the game, at which point Deng Xiaoping breathed a sigh of relief.
He patted his chest and said, "This game is really nervous," and the staff nodded sympathetically. After a moment's pause, Deng Xiaoping suddenly clapped, "Let's applaud the athletes."
The staff's emotions were still immersed in the game, and they did not react for a while, and they were slow for a moment before they followed Deng Xiaoping's applause.
Pictured: Deng Xiaoping swimming
In addition to watching games, Deng Xiaoping himself liked sports.
Swimming is a sport he has always adhered to since he was a child, and in August 1983, the 79-year-old Deng Xiaoping took advantage of his inspection in the northeast to come to Dalian Bangcui Island for six days to recuperate.
These 6 days, except for one day because of seawater oil pollution, basically every morning is spent in the sea.
Once, the boat king Bao Yugang wanted to build an indoor swimming pool for him, so that he would not suffer the risk of the river and the sea, but what Deng Xiaoping advocated was nature, "I don't like to swim in the indoor pool, I like to swim in nature, the degree of freedom is greater, there is a momentum." ”
So he used the money to build the garrison of the guard unit.
Even her daughter, Dunlin, said,
"Dad is willing to stand up to the wind, face the waves, dive into the water, bravely go forward, and swim to the depths of the sea." Dad cherished every opportunity to go into the water, every year to Beidaihe, on the day of arrival, he will go to the sea, when he leaves, he will also go to the sea, no matter how cold the day, no matter how big the waves, he is reluctant to give up. ”
In the summer of 1992, at the age of 88, Mr. Deng came to Beidaihe, and this time doctors disapproved him of swimming in the sea.
Deng Xiaoping endured for five or six days, and finally couldn't bear it, and seeing others swimming in the sea all day long was a great temptation for him.
So, Deng Xiaoping and the doctor softly and hard bubbles, finally won the opportunity to go to the sea, this time, he went to the sea a total of 8 times, each time about 45 minutes, which is also his last time swimming in the sea.
Deng Xiaoping once said to a friend, "I can swim, which means that my body is OK; I can play bridge, which means that my brain is OK." ”
Deng Xiaoping's daughter personally certified that Deng Xiaoping had three major hobbies, "football, Peking Opera, and bridge", and since 1952, when Deng Xiaoping learned bridge with a friend in Neijiang, Sichuan Province, bridge has become his main entertainment activity outside of work.
Deng Xiaoping felt, "Only when I play bridge can I think about nothing, concentrate on the cards, and my mind can rest fully." ”
Pictured Wanli and Deng Xiaoping
Old friend Wanli is his most loyal card friend, as long as there is no job, the two people will definitely play cards rain or shine. Deng Xiaoping's card friends are not limited to acquaintances, he also likes to meet friends with cards and make new friends.
In 1984, Deng Xiaoping was on vacation in Beidaihe, and when he heard that the chess player Nie Weiping was also there, he invited him to play cards together, and since then, Deng Xiaoping and Nie Weiping have become card friends.
Nie Weiping recalled,
"Deng Xiaoping at the poker table is very approachable, since it is a game, there will always be wins and losses, of course the old man will strive for victory, but if he loses, he will lose, others point out that he made a mistake in his card, he will also listen with an open mind, if I make a mistake, he will also unceremoniously criticize."
Deng Xiaoping liked to play cards with the masters, he believed that "to play bridge is to play with the masters, and if you lose, you have a taste", and Yang Xiaoyan, the world-famous bridge champion, is one of his favorite card friends.
Picture 丨 Yang Xiaoyan
In 1981, the International Bridge Friendship Invitational Tournament was held in Shanghai, and Yang Xiaoyan served as the captain of the American team and arrived in Beijing on March 3.
While in Beijing, Yang Xiaoyan proposed that he wanted to play bridge with Deng Xiaoping, but Deng Xiaoping couldn't ask for it. On the evening of March 4, the four men were divided into two teams, with Deng Xiaoping and Yang Xiaoyan as opponents.
Yang Xiaoyan was not satisfied with the group, and she said to Deng Xiaoping, "It is not easy for us to play the second card with you, can I pair up with you?" ”
Deng Xiaoping gladly agreed, "Well, this will improve my card skills." ”
Although Deng Xiaoping was not a professional player, they cooperated seamlessly, and after a while, the opponent lost, and on this day, everyone was very excited and played until very late.
In addition to his love of playing bridge, Deng Xiaoping was also the promoter of the Chinese bridge movement, and in 1978, several bridge enthusiasts in the educational circles wrote to Deng Xiaoping, hoping to unify bridge as a formal project by the National Sports Commission.
Pictured: Deng Xiaoping playing bridge
Deng Xiaoping quickly instructed the Sports Committee to "please consider it," and the following year, the State Sports Commission began to hold bridge competitions.
In 1980, the Chinese Bridge Association was established and joined the World Bridge Federation, and in 1984, the China Bridge Association held the first "Operations Research and Health Cup" bridge competition.
Since then, every time a bridge competition has been held, Deng Xiaoping will participate whenever he has time. In recognition of Deng Xiaoping's efforts for the sport of bridge, the China Bridge Association hired him as honorary chairman, and the World Bridge Federation also awarded him the "World Bridge Federation Honorary Gold Award" and "The Highest Honorary Award of the President".
After Deng Xiaoping's death in 1997, Joss Damia, president of the World Bridge Federation, sent a message of condolence, "Mr. Deng is a famous bridge enthusiast, and we are very proud to have such a friend as him in the bridge industry." ”